Thomas Tuchel proving Chelsea made the right decision
When Chelsea made the choice to fire Frank Lampard, it was a bit surprising that they almost immediately hired Thomas Tuchel as his replacement.
Not because the German wasn’t good enough but because he himself was coming off getting sacked by Paris Saint-Germain despite getting the French club to the Champions League final the year before.
Tuchel was tasked to right the ship at Chelsea as the team was underperforming under Lampard. The club spent a decent amount in acquiring players like Timo Werner, Kai Havertz and Hakim Ziyech, to name a few.
He’s righted the ship and more as he’s been able to do what seemed impossible just a few months back and that is getting Chelsea to another Champions League final.
Chelsea were the better team in both legs against Real Madrid.
Going into the first leg against Real Madrid, some may have had them as the underdog only because of the pedigree from Zinedine Zidane’s side.
But the Blues demonstrated in both legs that they were the superior team and if they had finished off some of their chances in both games, the tie could have been over after the first leg.
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Now they have a date against Manchester City in Istanbul. They’ve already beaten City in the FA Cup semifinal this season so any sort of intimidation factor is out the window.
"“It gives us a good feeling, it gives us self confidence,” Tuchel said. “We played that semifinal on the edge and we used it because Bayern Munich, with Manchester City, are the benchmark.“We wanted to close the gap to Man City in the semifinal, which we did and we will need the same level of performance again. But it gave us belief for every game after that because it’s the highest level you can face.”Source: The Guardian"
Everyone is well aware of the managerial carousel at Chelsea but with his early success, Tuchel has the opportunity to lay roots at the London-based side. At the very least, he’s found a second life after being dismissed by PSG.
He came in with a reputation of having a difficult working relationship with management but it’s been smooth sailing since he arrived and has Chelsea one win away from another European title.
By getting through Real Madrid, he’s reached a second straight European final with two different teams. Even if Chelsea lose against City, he’s gotten the team farther than anyone could have imagined and, in the process, proved some of his doubters wrong.